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22 Jul 2010

Rod Gilfry

Photo by Christian Steiner

The Théâtre du Châtelet will stage Show Boat, Sweeney Todd, My Fair Lady and an opera based on the film "Il Postino" in Paris as part of its 2010-2011 season.

Théâtre du Châtelet offered productions of The Sound of Music and A Little Night Music (starring Greta Scacchi and Leslie Caron) to Parisian audiences last season and will continue to offer a fresh look at American musicals in the coming year.

Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II's Show Boat will open the season Oct. 2-19. The production is a homecoming for the Châtelet, which presented the French premiere of the iconic musical in 1929, re-titled Mississippi, under the direction of Maurice Lehmann.

Janice Honeyman will direct the English-language production that will feature cast members Janelle Visagie and Mandie de Villiers-Schutte alternating as Magnolia, Blake Fischer as Ravenal, Malcolm Terry as Captain Andy, Diane Wilson as Parthy, Angela Kerrison as Julie, Otto Maidi as Joe and Miranda Tini as Queenie.

Stephen Sondheim's gothic thriller Sweeney Todd will be presented April 22-May 21, 2011. Lee Blakeley, who staged Night Music last season, will direct the English-language production.

Rody Gilfry, of Broadway's South Pacific and the Châtelet production of The Sound of Music, will alternate with Franco Pomponi as the villainous barber. Deanne Meek will portray Mrs. Lovett with Jonathan Best as Judge Turpin, John Graham-Hall as Beatle Bamford, David Curry as Pirello, Nicholas Garrett as Anthony, Rebecca Bottone as Joanna, Pascal Chardonneau as Tobias and Rebecca de Pont Davis as the Beggarwoman.

Daniel Catán's opera Il Postino, which will receive its world premiere at Los Angeles Opera in September, will run June 20, 24, 27 and 30 under the direction of Ron Daniels. Performed in Spanish, the cast boasts Plácido Domingo as Pablo Neruda, as well as Antonio Coriano, Amanda Squitieri, Cristina Gallard-Domas, Victor Torres, Patricia Fernandez and Laurent Alvaro.